South America's Star

By the 1990s Argentina was politically and economically stable for
the first time in decades; however, the wineries, like other businesses,
found themselves in dire need of capital and new markets. Argentina
found its blueprint across the Andes -- in Chile who had reinvented its
wine industry by improving the quality of its wines, refining them to
fit international tastes, pricing them higher and exporting them to the
United States and Great Britain. Four years ago, the U. S. imported 50
percent more wine from Argentina than Chile, a big change from the year
2000 when Chile exported almost five times as much wine to the U. S. as
Argentina did.

In addition to modernizing winemaking techniques
and viticultural practices, the top wineries in Argentina are focusing
more heavily on certain grape varieties to produce wines for exporting.
The real star is malbec; a variety that in Bordeaux was one of the
classic blending grapes but now is best known as a stand-alone varietal.
In Bordeaux, malbec ranks well below cabernet sauvignon and merlot in
quality but in Argentina malbec can broach magic.

There are four
major wine regions in Argentina, with Mendoza being the leading region.
It is the heartbeat of the Argentinian wine industry. Mendoza has
360,000 acres of grapes and is equal to a bit less than half of all the
vineyard land in the U.S. The most famous grape in Mendoza is malbec,
which offers grip, structure and density of dark color with spicy
blackberry, herbal intensity in a medium weight package. Malbec is meant
for food -- especially beef, which is celebrated as part of daily life.
The beef in Argentina is lean with a pronounced flavor that
Argentinians say is the true beef flavor. The cattle feed on grasses as
they roam over enormous expanses of land rather than being fattened in
feedlots and fed growth hormones. And what do the Argentinians drink
with their national culinary treasure? Their national vinous treasure:
malbec. Malbec is easy to drink and quite smooth with a juicy
underpinning and a clean finish. So pick one or two up to try with your
beef or flavorful vegetable dish.